Best of 2009 (Part 2)

Das RacistFoto: Ben Rowland

Last week's Friday Ripple picked the top 10 albums of 2009. Because there were so many other great releases this year, here's a part 2. Instead of focusing on albums, this week's show is just a selection of great tunes from the past 12 months.

BLK JKSFoto: Press kit

There are plenty of releases from from some of the Friday Ripple's favourite alternative scenes worldwide, like Afrobeat, Balkanbeat, kuduro, Nigerian electropop and Spanish hip hop. There's also plenty of stuff from better-known genres, like grime from Gracious K, drum 'n' bass from Mistabishi, and alt-rock from South Africa's BLK JKS, Lebanon's Scrambled Eggs, Denmark's The Raveonettes and Scotland's Malcolm Middleton. 

Meanwhile in the "cover versions of the year" category, Joan as Police Woman turns the Public Enemy classic She Watch Channel Zero into a huge rock song, Dubblestandart remake the Lee "Scratch" Perry/Max Romeo dub classic Chase The Devil with Perry himself on vocals, and El Michel's Affair offer an orchestral reworking of Wu-Tang Clan's Shimmy Shimmy Ya. 

This was also a great year for alternative music in the Czech Republic, and a half-hour section in the middle with highlights of the domestic scene. In brief: 

This year Sporto switched to Czech language for their second album More, mixing electro anthems with post-rock dynamics. You can download the album on MP3 for free - if you like it, go to the shows and buy their vinyl and T-shirts. The latest mini-album from Balkanbeat-dub crew Dub In Da Trip, Too Young To Dub, is also free to download; same suggestions apply. This year WWW overcame their Google-unfriendly name to release a second album of leftfield experiments in electro-hip hop, Tanec sekyr, while The Prostitutes brought some massive post-punk tunes with their second album Hometown Zombies. The surprising comeback of the year was Freak Parade: in the 90s a female-fronted grunge band, they went streetpunk/powerpop for new album All Lovers Are Traitors, with catchy results. 

Banana Split a jeho MoralisteFoto: Havran Prkno

Finally in the roundup of the Czech alternative scene in 2009, there's a release that I couldn't actually play this year: Uvodem Fakta, the debut album from Banana Split a jeho Moraliste. This band describe themselves as "historical hip hop", and their music mixes country with breakbeats, rapping - and satirical lyrics which are potentially very, very offensive. That's why you haven't heard them on this show: the album is packed with mockery of famous Czech political figures past and present, speculations on the secret sexual and political orientations of some very well-known people, and other stuff that I'm not going to quote here. In short, I'm not touching any of these topics, especially as I don't fully understand the lyrics. You'll hear two very short excerpts in this week's show; if you want to hear more, most of the album is available as a free download. This link does not imply that I endorse, or even understand, the opinions expressed by Banana Split a jeho Moraliste! ;-) 

You can stream the whole show on the Radio Wave Jukebox under Friday Ripple > 18.12.2009.
Here's the playlist:
Das Racist - Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell (Dance to the Radio)
Libella Swing - Parov Stelar (Etage Noir Recordings)
Ojos de Brujo - Donde Te Has Metio (remix) (La Fabrica de Colores)
Mistabishi - Printer Jam (Hospital Records)
Gracious "Nappa Man" K - Migraine Skank (White Label)
BLK JKS - Molalatladi (Secretly Canadian)
Scrambled Eggs - Girls on Fire (Lebanese Underground)
Jimi Tenor & Tony Allen - Mama England (Strut)
Dubblestandart - Chase The Devil feat. Lee Perry & Gudrun (Collision: Cause of Chapter 3)
Joan As Police Woman - She Watch Channel Zero (Reveal Records)
Sporto - Manifesto (Starcastic)
WWW - Tanec sekyr (Radio Wave Live Session)
Dub In Da Trip - Same Wrong Stories (self-released)
The Prostitutes - Hometown Zombie (Championship Records)
Freak Parade - Bitter Ain't Pretty (self-released)
Banana Split a jeho Moraliste - Historie (edit) (self-released)
Banana Split a jeho Moraliste - Automechanik (edit) (self-released)
Wounded Knee - My Wooden Cupboard (Benbecula) RH+ - Sambacanuta (La Oreja)
Shantel - Citizen Of Planet Paprika (Essay Recordings)
Palov & Mishkin - Rude Mamba pt 1 (Cast-a-blast)
Malcolm Middleton - Box and Knife (Full Time Hobby) Raveonettes - Bang!
Skuki feat. Mo'Cheddah - Stamina (Daphella Entertainment)
African China feat Faze - If You Love Somebody (Globedisk Music)
El Michel's Affair - Shimmy Shimmy Ya (Fatbeats)
Helder, Rei Du Kuduro - Frique Frique (Shark Entertainment)